George Dawkes
Encyclopedia
George Owen Dawkes was a first-class
cricket
er who played for Leicestershire
between 1937 and 1939 and for Derbyshire
between 1947 and 1961 as a wicket keeper and a lower-order right-handed batsman. During the 1949-50 season he toured India with a team of players making up a Commonwealth XI
.
and made his debut for Leicestershire in the 1937 season at the age of 16. According to Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
, he "was claimed to be the youngest wicket-keeper ever to take part in county cricket". He played in 11 matches in the 1937 season as replacement for the injury-prone main wicketkeeper, Percy Corrall, taking 13 catches and making four stumpings. For a player who later earned a reputation as a solid lower-order batsman, his batting record was singular: in 17 innings, he made 53 runs, and never once reached double figures.
In 1938 and 1939, though Corrall was fit again, Dawkes was preferred as Leicestershire's first-choice wicketkeeper. He was awarded his county cap in 1938 and by the end of the season he was batting regularly at No 7 or No 8, which would remain his usual batting place for the rest of his career. He made his first two scores of more than 50 in 1939, and his 81 against Somerset
in a follow-on that almost turned into a victory was his highest score for Leicestershire. Leicestershire finished bottom of the County Championship
in 1939, but Dawkes' wicketkeeping earned praise from Wisden: "Without doubt the brightest part of the Leicestershire cricket was the magnificent wicket-keeping of Dawkes, who also showed much improvement with the bat," it wrote. "Many competent judges regarded Dawkes as an England
wicket-keeper of the future."
during the Second World War, and was not discharged in time to take part in county cricket on its resumption in 1946. In his absence, Corrall resumed as regular wicketkeeper for Leicestershire. Still in the RAF in the first two-thirds of the 1947 season, Dawkes played three first-class matches for the Combined Services cricket team
before his discharge in August, when he joined Derbyshire for the county's final four County Championship matches of the season. Until Dawkes' arrival, Derbyshire had lacked a full-time wicketkeeper all season: the job was being done, mostly, by the former England batsman Denis Smith
, and Wisden noted that "handicapped by injury and the cares of wicket-keeping, Denis Smith revealed only glimpses of his true form". For some matches when Smith was injured, Derbyshire had recalled prewar wicketkeeper Harry Elliott
, believed at the time to be 51, but in reality 55 years of age. Unsurprisingly, at the end of the season, Dawkes was offered a contract and accepted.
Dawkes therefore became Derbyshire's regular wicketkeeper from the start of the 1948 season
and missed very few matches for the county over the next 13 seasons. In all, he played 392 first-class matches for Derbyshire, which puts him 10th on the all-time list of appearances. He is also third on the list of Derbyshire wicketkeepers, behind his successor, Bob Taylor
and Harry Elliott, for catches, stumpings and overall dismissals.
Dawkes was awarded his Derbyshire county cap in 1948, and also increased his own personal highest score in the match against Nottinghamshire
at Ilkeston
that season, scoring 95 in a partnership of 149 for the sixth wicket with George Pope which took control of what had been until then an even game. That remained his highest score for six seasons, and his batting went through something of a trough from 1949
to 1953
, in a couple of years averaging
only 12 runs per innings.
match of the season, against Yorkshire
, and for the season-ending North v South match. He appeared in other MCC and North v South matches in 1949 and 1950. And in 1951 he was picked for an England XI against a Commonwealth XI in another end-of-season cricket festival, when he was also chosen for a Gentlemen v Players
match at Scarborough
.
But no call came from the England selectors, and Dawkes' only taste of representative cricket was as a member of the Commonwealth XI cricket team
that visited India and Pakistan in the 1949-50 season, playing five matches against a full Indian cricket team
that were termed "unofficial Tests". The side was organised by the former Lancashire
and England wicketkeeper George Duckworth
and many of the recruits came from the Lancashire League. They nevertheless included prominent names: Frank Worrell
among them. Dawkes' own prospects were limited by the inclusion of Jock Livingston
, the Australian batsman who could also keep wicket, as the side's captain. Dawkes played in only one of the "Test" matches, batting at No 11 and making one stumping.
at Burton on Trent. He put on 191 for the seventh wicket with John Kelly. That 1954 season, he made 864 runs at an average of 21.07, and in 1956 he went on to 963 runs at 26.75, which was the best average of his career. Finally in 1960, he made 964 runs, his highest aggregate in a single season, averaging 21.90; in the same season, he passed 1,000 dismissals in first-class cricket.
Dawkes' reliability as a wicketkeeper was commented on in many editions of Wisden across the 1950s, but his season figures were rarely spectacular, Derbyshire relying heavily on a fast bowling attack consisting for the bulk of Dawkes' career of Les Jackson
and Cliff Gladwin
, which gave a lot of chances to slip fielders such as Donald Carr
, as well as behind the wicket. But he achieved, on behalf of Jackson, a hat-trick
of catches in the match against Worcestershire
at Kidderminster
in 1958.
In 1961, after 13 seasons for Derbyshire without being much affected by injury, Dawkes was sidelined for more than half the season by problems with his knee. Derbyshire recruited Bob Taylor from Minor Counties cricket with Staffordshire
as Dawkes' deputy, and Taylor took over as first choice wicketkeeper at the end of the season. Dawkes played a couple of second eleven matches in 1962, and then retired.
Dawes died at Leicester at the age of 86.
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played for Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
between 1937 and 1939 and for Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
between 1947 and 1961 as a wicket keeper and a lower-order right-handed batsman. During the 1949-50 season he toured India with a team of players making up a Commonwealth XI
Commonwealth XI cricket team
The Commonwealth XI cricket team played over 100 first-class cricket matches from 1949 to 1968. The team started out as a side made up of mostly English, Australian and West Indian cricketers, that toured the subcontinent but later on played first-class fixtures in England...
.
Leicestershire cricketer
Dawkes was born at LeicesterLeicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
and made his debut for Leicestershire in the 1937 season at the age of 16. According to Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
, he "was claimed to be the youngest wicket-keeper ever to take part in county cricket". He played in 11 matches in the 1937 season as replacement for the injury-prone main wicketkeeper, Percy Corrall, taking 13 catches and making four stumpings. For a player who later earned a reputation as a solid lower-order batsman, his batting record was singular: in 17 innings, he made 53 runs, and never once reached double figures.
In 1938 and 1939, though Corrall was fit again, Dawkes was preferred as Leicestershire's first-choice wicketkeeper. He was awarded his county cap in 1938 and by the end of the season he was batting regularly at No 7 or No 8, which would remain his usual batting place for the rest of his career. He made his first two scores of more than 50 in 1939, and his 81 against Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
in a follow-on that almost turned into a victory was his highest score for Leicestershire. Leicestershire finished bottom of the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
in 1939, but Dawkes' wicketkeeping earned praise from Wisden: "Without doubt the brightest part of the Leicestershire cricket was the magnificent wicket-keeping of Dawkes, who also showed much improvement with the bat," it wrote. "Many competent judges regarded Dawkes as an England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
wicket-keeper of the future."
Derbyshire cricketer
Dawkes served with the Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
during the Second World War, and was not discharged in time to take part in county cricket on its resumption in 1946. In his absence, Corrall resumed as regular wicketkeeper for Leicestershire. Still in the RAF in the first two-thirds of the 1947 season, Dawkes played three first-class matches for the Combined Services cricket team
Combined Services cricket team
The Combined Services cricket team represents the British armed forces. The team played at first-class level in England for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England at Lord's in 1920, while their last was against Oxford...
before his discharge in August, when he joined Derbyshire for the county's final four County Championship matches of the season. Until Dawkes' arrival, Derbyshire had lacked a full-time wicketkeeper all season: the job was being done, mostly, by the former England batsman Denis Smith
Denis Smith (cricketer)
Denis Smith was a cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1927 and 1952 and in two Test matchs for England in 1935. He scored over 21,000 runs in first class cricket.Smith was born in Somercotes, Derbyshire...
, and Wisden noted that "handicapped by injury and the cares of wicket-keeping, Denis Smith revealed only glimpses of his true form". For some matches when Smith was injured, Derbyshire had recalled prewar wicketkeeper Harry Elliott
Harry Elliott
Harry Elliott was an English cricketer who kept wicket for Derbyshire from 1920 to 1947 and for England between 1927 and 1934 and was an international Test umpire....
, believed at the time to be 51, but in reality 55 years of age. Unsurprisingly, at the end of the season, Dawkes was offered a contract and accepted.
Dawkes therefore became Derbyshire's regular wicketkeeper from the start of the 1948 season
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1948
Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1948 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for seventy-seven years. It was their forty-fourth season in the County Championship and they won eleven matches to finish sixth in the County Championship.-1948 season:Derbyshire...
and missed very few matches for the county over the next 13 seasons. In all, he played 392 first-class matches for Derbyshire, which puts him 10th on the all-time list of appearances. He is also third on the list of Derbyshire wicketkeepers, behind his successor, Bob Taylor
Bob Taylor (cricketer)
Robert William Taylor , known as Bob Taylor, is a former English cricketer who played as wicket-keeper for Derbyshire between 1961 and 1984 and for England between 1971 and 1984. He made 57 Test, and 639 first class cricket appearances in total, taking 1,473 catches. The 2,069 victims across his...
and Harry Elliott, for catches, stumpings and overall dismissals.
Dawkes was awarded his Derbyshire county cap in 1948, and also increased his own personal highest score in the match against Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
at Ilkeston
Ilkeston
Ilkeston is a town within the Borough of Erewash, in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the River Erewash, from which the local borough takes its name. Its population at the 2001 census was 37,550...
that season, scoring 95 in a partnership of 149 for the sixth wicket with George Pope which took control of what had been until then an even game. That remained his highest score for six seasons, and his batting went through something of a trough from 1949
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1949
Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1949 represents the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for seventy-eight years. It was their forty-fifth season in the County Championship and they won six matches in the County Championship to finish in fifteenth place.-1949...
to 1953
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1953
Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1953 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for eighty two years. It was their fifty-ninth season in the County Championship and they won nine matches and lost seven to finish sixth in the County Championship.-1953...
, in a couple of years averaging
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
only 12 runs per innings.
Representative cricket
That he was on the fringes of consideration for the England Test team in this postwar period is indicated by the fact that he was chosen in 1948 for the opening MCCMarylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
match of the season, against Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
, and for the season-ending North v South match. He appeared in other MCC and North v South matches in 1949 and 1950. And in 1951 he was picked for an England XI against a Commonwealth XI in another end-of-season cricket festival, when he was also chosen for a Gentlemen v Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
match at Scarborough
Scarborough Festival
The Scarborough Festival is an end of season series of cricket matches featuring Yorkshire County Cricket Club which has been held in Scarborough, on the east coast of Yorkshire, since 1876. The ground, at North Marine Road, sees large crowds of holiday makers watching a mixture of first class...
.
But no call came from the England selectors, and Dawkes' only taste of representative cricket was as a member of the Commonwealth XI cricket team
Commonwealth XI cricket team
The Commonwealth XI cricket team played over 100 first-class cricket matches from 1949 to 1968. The team started out as a side made up of mostly English, Australian and West Indian cricketers, that toured the subcontinent but later on played first-class fixtures in England...
that visited India and Pakistan in the 1949-50 season, playing five matches against a full Indian cricket team
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
that were termed "unofficial Tests". The side was organised by the former Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
and England wicketkeeper George Duckworth
George Duckworth
George Duckworth was a professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Lancashire and England....
and many of the recruits came from the Lancashire League. They nevertheless included prominent names: Frank Worrell
Frank Worrell
Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell is sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae and was a West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator...
among them. Dawkes' own prospects were limited by the inclusion of Jock Livingston
Jock Livingston
Leonard "Jock" Livingston, born at Hurlstone Park, Sydney on 3 May 1920 and died there on 16 January 1998, was an Australian cricketer who played most of his first-class cricket in England.-Cricket career:...
, the Australian batsman who could also keep wicket, as the side's captain. Dawkes played in only one of the "Test" matches, batting at No 11 and making one stumping.
Later career
From 1954 to 1960, Dawkes remained the regular wicketkeeper for Derbyshire, but also became more reliable in his batting. In 1954, he made the sole first-class century of his career, 143 in the match against HampshireHampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
at Burton on Trent. He put on 191 for the seventh wicket with John Kelly. That 1954 season, he made 864 runs at an average of 21.07, and in 1956 he went on to 963 runs at 26.75, which was the best average of his career. Finally in 1960, he made 964 runs, his highest aggregate in a single season, averaging 21.90; in the same season, he passed 1,000 dismissals in first-class cricket.
Dawkes' reliability as a wicketkeeper was commented on in many editions of Wisden across the 1950s, but his season figures were rarely spectacular, Derbyshire relying heavily on a fast bowling attack consisting for the bulk of Dawkes' career of Les Jackson
Les Jackson
Les Jackson was an English cricketer. A fast or fast-medium bowler renowned for his accurate bowling and particular hostility on uncovered wickets, he played county cricket for Derbyshire from 1947 to 1963, and was regularly at, or near the top of, the English bowling averages...
and Cliff Gladwin
Cliff Gladwin
Clifford Gladwin was an English cricketer, who played for Derbyshire from 1939 to 1958, and in eight Tests for England from 1947 to 1949...
, which gave a lot of chances to slip fielders such as Donald Carr
Donald Carr
Donald Bryce Carr is a former English cricketer who played for Derbyshire from 1946 to 1967, for Oxford University from 1948 to 1951, and twice for England in 1951/52. He captained Derbyshire between 1955 and 1962, and scored over 10,000 runs for the county...
, as well as behind the wicket. But he achieved, on behalf of Jackson, a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
of catches in the match against Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...
at Kidderminster
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a town, in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. It is located approximately seventeen miles south-west of Birmingham city centre and approximately fifteen miles north of Worcester city centre. The 2001 census recorded a population of 55,182 in the town...
in 1958.
In 1961, after 13 seasons for Derbyshire without being much affected by injury, Dawkes was sidelined for more than half the season by problems with his knee. Derbyshire recruited Bob Taylor from Minor Counties cricket with Staffordshire
Staffordshire County Cricket Club
Staffordshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Staffordshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
as Dawkes' deputy, and Taylor took over as first choice wicketkeeper at the end of the season. Dawkes played a couple of second eleven matches in 1962, and then retired.
Dawes died at Leicester at the age of 86.
External links
- George Dawkes at Cricinfo
- George Dawkes at Cricket Archive